1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to systems for adding colorant to pre-comminuted material and methods of coloring same and, more particularly, to a colorant dispensing system for adding colorant to pre-comminuted material and a method of coloring pre-comminuted material.
2. Description of the Related Art
Processing wood from raw timber into lumber and from lumber into refined wood stock for specific applications produces a waste material by-product. This by-product is recycled and used to create other wood products. By way of example, certain waste material is compressed and glued together to form oriented strand board (“OSB”), which is used in several commercial and residential construction applications.
Additional recycling techniques involve using waste material in landscaping applications. In landscaping applications, waste material is reduced, for example by grinding or shredding. The resulting product is commonly referred to as, “mulch.” Mulch is commonly used as a weed barrier and/or to improve water retention around trees/plants, but may also be used simply to improve the aesthetic quality of a landscape. To this end, mulch may be color-dyed to any number of different colors or shades and may also be treated with a number of chemicals such as pesticides or herbicides during the waste reducing process.
Generally speaking, this process commonly involves either spray-coating the material with a liquefied colorant during the waste reducing process or immersing the material in a color bath after the waste reducing process. Accordingly, the traditional processes occur during or after the waste reducing process and require a substantial amount of both colorant and water to facilitate treatment of the wood mulch with a colorant.
By using a liquid-based colorant, the traditional processes requires complex cleaning of the waste reducing machine components between color changes, resulting in substantial machine and labor “down time.” This downtime also results in loader and trucking operator downtime as well. Further, with respect to bath treatments, the bath housing generally consumes a substantial area adjacent the waste reducing machine, resulting in an inefficient use of space and a cumbersome work environment. Additionally, bath treatments, and some spray-coating applications, require a drying phase to cure the liquid-based colorant to the material, which can reduce quantity of mulch available for use at a given time. If, packaged before properly cured, the wet mulch also generates increased transportation costs due to the additional weight. Further, with respect to spray-coating treatments, the spray application may be indirectly applied to the adjacent equipment and ground through overspray or dripping, which may adversely affect the equipment, the ground, or both.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a system that treats pre-comminuted material with a colorant prior to the material entering the waste reducing process. Further, there is also a need in the art for a system that applies colorant to pre-comminuted material before the waste reducing process that reduces the amount of liquid consumed while coloring. There is further a need in the art for a system that applies a dry colorant to pre-comminuted material before the waste reducing process that reduces the amount of colorant necessary to produce colored mulch. There is still further a need in the art for a system that distributes a dry colorant to pre-comminuted material before the waste reducing process that provides efficient transition between different colorants to reduce waste reducing machine downtime. There is still further a need in the art for a method of coloring pre-comminuted material with colorant before processing by the waste reducing section of a waste reducing machine. There is further a need in the art for a method of coloring pre-comminuted material with colorant before the waste reducing process that applies a controlled amount of colorant to a sensed quantity of pre-comminuted material to efficiently color the entire quantity. Therefore, there is a need in the art to provide a system and process that meets these desires.